1. FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to an amusement/exercise apparatus which simulates running movement of an animal or other amusing or fanciful shape or figure.
2. DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Hobby horses or rocking horses of the conventional type are well known. Those on merry-go-rounds and the machine driven, coin operated type often found at or near retail stores have attempted to provide some measure of sensation that the horse, or other animal being simulated, is running or moving.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to include a pedal drive mechanism so as to include a capability for exercise by the rider. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 710,218; 2,473,649 and 3,068,000 all were attempts to permit a rider to use foot pedals to cause movement of the simulated animal body. Several problems, however, existed. First, the rider driving the pedals to cause the animal body to move had to exert enough force to move both the animal body and the rider's own weight. For the typical child rider, this was often a quite difficult task. Further, the gearing and drive mechanisms driven by the pedals were exposed between the support frame and the animal body. With children typically being intended to be the principal users of these apparatus, the possibility of another child's fingers or limbs being caught in the gearing and drive mechanisms was always present. Another factor was that in the devices disclosed in these prior patents, motion of the simulated animal bodies was at best only an attempt to simulate the actual physical movement of the actual animal's body in motion.
Other patents of which applicant is aware which are related to the general nature of the present invention are U.S. Pat. Nos. 491,927; 967,641; 2,627,419; and 2,680,020.